August Alsina testifies about life on the streets, signing to Def Jam, and playing by his own rules

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The people responded well to Alsina’s music. His debut album, Testimony, reached the No. 1 spot on the Billboard R&B charts and No. 2 on the Billboard 200. With 63,552 copies sold in the first week, Alsina’s hard work and dream have come to fruition.


With success, he knows the opposite sex will pay more attention. Some women consider Alsina a sex symbol, but he’s skeptical when it comes to dating.


“I have trust issues,” Alsina reveals. “You don’t know, because girls play games sometimes. I was in a store once and some girls were in there asking if they could take a picture with me. One girl asked if I was a basketball player. I told her I wasn’t. When I went to the counter, the clerk told me that the girl knew who I was and [that] she told everyone about me before I walked into the store. Now that I know you’re a liar, I really can’t get down with you. I just grind. I’m robbed of actually being able to make a friend or actually see if a girl really likes me for who I am, because you never know what their motives are. Since I don’t have time to figure it out, I don’t pay attention to it.

“I’m at a place where I don’t trust many people. I’ve seen some crazy stuff. If I had a camera to show you the things some girls do, you’d understand why I’m cool on that right now.”


At 21, Alsina has plenty of time to figure out how to handle love and relationships while pursuing a music career. But now he must continue to establish himself as an artist who can stand the test of time.

“I’m hoping to inspire and touch people in some way,” Alsina says. “It’s a way for me to tell my story. My legacy is that I will hustle and grind. No one will stop me from hustling. I’ll be where God wants me to be. I’m grinding to see where I can go with it.”

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